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Kennedy Men's Club

Oct 21 2024

FAREWELL TO ANOTHER GREAT KMC SEASON

A little over a week ago we said goodbye to the 2024 season with our annual Fall Banquet at Kennedy. We celebrated the big winners of the year, Club Champions, Match Play, Belfairs, Kennedy Cup, and of course the big 2024 money-makers. As always, we elected our KMC Board for the next season, and we are very honored to announce all existing Board members will be back in their respective roles for 2025.

Moving forward, our most pressing reminder to everyone: please don't forget to use all your gift certificate money before the year ends! Denver Golf says gift certificates will expire on December 31st, so please don't forfeit your hard-earned winnings! You can use your gift certificate money to pay for greens fees or merchandise at ANY Denver Golf course.

Please be on the lookout for a 2025 schedule early next year. We expect to open membership to returning members in January, and then to new members in February.

From all of us on the KMC Board, thank you for an incredible 2024! A very special thank you to Matt Zoller and Charlie Sintek for their work on the handicap committee. We look forward to serving you again in 2025!

-Trent, Chris, Ken, Chong, Bob, Steve, Dave, Jeff, and Rob

Sep 24 2024

BEWARE OF GOLF MARKERS THAT DON'T COMPLY WITH USGA RULES

Recently, a piece of equipment was discovered in the Kennedy Men's Club that should serve as a reminder to everyone to please watch out for equipment that violates the rules of golf.

Specifically, the LINASHI Golf Green Slope Marker, which claims to be "professional," is in fact a non-compliant ball marker that contains a ball level. This is where the issue lies:

According to USGA Rule 4.3, ball markers must not include any features designed to measure or interpret conditions like slope or green speed. Thus, the above referenced ball marker or anything similar is not permitted in Kennedy Men’s Club tournaments.

Please reach out to a Board member if you have any questions!

Sep 11 2024

KENNEDY MEN'S CLUB READY FOR DENVER CUP SHOWDOWN!

This Saturday and Sunday, Denver’s municipal men’s clubs will square off in the annual Denver Cup, and this year it’s all going down at Willis Case. The Kennedy Men’s Club is fielding a stacked squad, ready to bring home the bragging rights once again!

Representing the A flight are Bob Knutson, Lucas Corrick, Bob Maggard, Pete Schlickman, and one of our Club's new members this year, Josh Rodriquez! Our B flight is Matt Zoller, Brookie Kanski, Brad Alm, Chris Strubel, and Jim Biederman. These men will compete in individual stroke play.

In the C flight, Chong Woo, Jim Lennon, Sean Vongsakoun, Joe Low, and Ken Doby will battle it out in a 2-man best ball format. Finally, the D flight, featuring Larry Christensen, Brian Wiberg, Steve Jewell, and Mark Parizotto, will compete in a 2-man scramble format.

Best of luck, guys! Bring that trophy back where it belongs!

Sep 11 2024

IMPORTANT REMINDER: GIFT CERTIFICATES EXPIRE AT END OF YEAR!

If you won any gift certificate money this year, please don't forget to use it before the end of the year as Denver Golf now says it will expire. You can use your credit at any of the Denver courses on just about anything, including merchandise and golf rounds.

Aug 12 2024

GRANT TANABE FINISHES +1 TO RECLAIM KMC'S TOP TITLE

Another great Club Championship weekend is in the books! The competition was tough, but one player managed to play some impressive golf and pull away from the pack. Mr. Tanabe definitely brought his A-game, shooting 69 + 74 last weekend and beating the next best gross score by 5 strokes! Well done, Grant!

In net score competition, Mr. Greg Davis shot an impressive -6 to take the top spot in the first flight. In the second flight, a familiar leaderboard name edged out his competition by a single stroke! Mr. Ken Doby claimed that flight finishing at -3. In the third flight, it was instead a very new name that took first place. Congratulations, Mr. William McCombie on your final score of -4 in your first KMC Club Championship! And finally, in the fourth flight with final score of -4, Mr. Rus Peterson managed to finish 7 strokes ahead of the competition! Well done, guys!

We look forward to celebrating these historic Kennedy Men's Club victories in a couple months at the Fall Banquet. Until then, there's a lot more KMC golf ahead, and hopefully more fairways and greens for everyone!

Congratulations to our 2024 Kennedy Men's Club Champions!

May 26 2024

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ATTESTATIONS

The Board has decided that beginning with the Two Man Two Day tournament, all players are required to attest their score online after the round. If you do not attest your score, you will be disqualified from that round! If you need help attesting your score, please see a committee member following your round, we are happy to help you with the process.

May 13 2024

A note from KMC's President about Saturday's Memorial Tournament

Fellow members,

On Saturday, May 18th, we will be having our annual Memorial Tournament. This year we will be remembering Mike Fisher, Val Grassia, as well as honoring all of our vets, living and passed, as the day also happens to be Armed Forces Day.

Mike Fisher was a member of our club since 2018. While he did not play in many events over the years, when he did play he always had a smile and positive attitude on the course. Those who did have the pleasure of playing with Mike might recall his incredible swing! Mike was the father of 5 young children. Professionally, he was a manager at Jason’s Deli in the Tech Center and Aurora. While working there he catered many events for my office. He also gave my grandson a job while he was in high school. Mike will be missed by many of us and may he rest in peace.

Val Grassia was the wife of Bob Grassia, a prior member of our club and co tournament chair for several years. Val suddenly passed away on February 13th, the day after Bob returned from a golf trip in Mesquite. They had just built their dream home outside of Scottsdale, Arizona and were enjoying Bob’s recent retirement. Val and Bob were married for 36 years. The two met at a party, and it was love at first sight. Bob told his friend that day that he was going to marry that girl! The KMC family is saddened by the sudden passing of Val and wish Bob peace and the best going forward. We are honored that Bob will be joining us at Wellshire on Saturday. All are welcome to stop by after the tournament to say hi and offer your condolences.

Lastly, for Armed Forces Day we welcome our Kennedy Veterans to wear something to identify their service so we can all properly thank them!

Sincerely,

Trent Wood

KMC President

Apr 12 2024

LOCAL RULES UPDATES

FREE RELIEF FROM CERTAIN TREES

You may take relief from any tree with wire fencing around the trunk ONLY IF the tree or fencing interferes with your stance or swing. There is NO relief if your shot (line of sight to the hole) is impacted by the tree.

UPDATED DROP AREAS

Look for new white painted drop areas on #6, #13, #15, and #18. Beware that the drop areas for #6 and #18 have moved and are no longer the white tee boxes. As a reminder, on #6 and #18 you may use the drop zones after your SECOND SHOT enters the penalty area. On #13 and #15, you may use the drop areas after your TEE SHOT enters the penalty area.

Mar 24 2024

Tee box changes are coming for 2024

After much discussion and consideration, the KMC Board has decided to make changes that will impact the length of course that we play. We've heard from many of you that the course has become too long (and therefore too slow), and we've decided it's time to make changes that will hopefully make the course more fun to play, while also keeping our tournaments challenging and competitive. These changes include moving tees up from buried locations (primarily Bronze tees), as well as moving most flights up a tee box. Below are examples of how the Tournament Committee intends to setup flights and tees for the upcoming season. Please note: the following handicap estimates listed below are NOT guaranteed. Flights and handicaps within flights are determined based on the field of each tournament.

For gross tournaments we intend to use 6 flights and the following tees:

1st flight: Bronze (hdcp est: 0-9)
2nd flight: Bronze/Gold (hdcp est: 9-13)
3rd Flight Gold (hdcp est: 13-17)
4th Flight Gold/Black (hdcp est: 17-22)
5th Flight Black. (hdcp est: 22-26)
6th Flight Black/Silver. (hdcp est: 26 & up)

No senior move-ups will be offered for gross events.

For most net tournaments we intend to use 4 flights:

1st flight: Bronze/Gold (hdcp est: 0-10)
2nd flight: Gold (hdcp est: 10-16)
3rd flight: Gold/Black (hdcp est: 16-22)
4th flight: Black (hdcp est: 22 and up)

For net events, Seniors and Super Seniors will have the option to move up tees (new rules around this noted below). Also, we will be giving ALL players the option to move BACK one tee box if they choose to play a longer set of tees. As with all net events, your handicap index determines which flight you will be placed. The tees you choose to play from will determine your course handicap.

Exceptions include the Club Championship and Calcuttas, which will be setup as such:

1st flight: Bronze (To be eligible for Gross Club Champion you must play from Bronze tees.)
2nd flight: Bronze/Gold
3rd flight: Gold
4th flight: Gold/Black

Changes to Senior and Super Senior designations

We're also going to simplify the Senior and Super Senior designations. As a reminder, Seniors have the option to move up 1/2 a tee box (e.g., Gold to Gold/Black) and Super Seniors can move up to any tee box they choose. Starting this season, anyone 65 or older now qualifies as a Senior, and anyone 75 or older qualifies as Super Senior.

Changes to Tournament Payouts

Payouts will be higher in 2024. Part of this is being addressed with slightly increased yearly dues. But we are also reallocating some budget from areas such as Banquet door prizes and drink money to help beef up our tournament payouts. To be clear, we are not eliminating these budget items, just reducing budget slightly to increase payouts. Because of this change, we would like to invite any generous members interested in donating money for Spring Banquet door prizes, to please contact Chong Woo.

Slow Play rule changes for 2024
While this may be everyone's least favorite local rule at KMC, the Board is committed to ensuring a reasonable pace-of-play in our tournaments. Slow play is not only frustrating for our members, but the city has warned us that greens fees will increase if slow play becomes a problem. At the same time, the Board wants to ensure we all have fun and that our rules around pace-of-play are fair. So after lengthy discussion, the Board has decided to make some changes this year that we hope will limit the stress around our Slow Play rule, while still encouraging all members play golf at a reasonable pace. The Board also reserves the right to adjust this rule throughout the season, if we feel these changes are not producing the intended results. The primary changes are:
We have changed our pace-of-play to 2 hours 20 minutes for front and back 9s, and 4 hours 40 minutes for 18. Meaning, if you finish within 2:20 on the front and back 9s, or within 4:40 after 18 holes, you will not be penalized for slow play regardless of the time gap between the group in front of you.
If your pace-of-play is slower than the above times, your group must finish within 17 minutes of the group in front of you. (Prior, this rule was 15 minutes.)
We will increase the number of QR signs to help groups measure how far behind they are from the group in front of them.
The Board will no longer DQ players for slow play.
The maximum penalty for not adhering to pace-of-play is 2 strokes: 1 stroke on the front 9 and 1 stroke after the back 9 which will be incurred by all members of the offending group. Also, you MUST scan the QR signs on #1, BEFORE the first player tees off, and on #9 and #18, AFTER everyone putts out. Failure to scan after #9 and #18 will result in 1 stroke penalties for each missed scan.
Just because you finish within the above time frames DOES NOT necessarily mean you are playing at a reasonable pace-of-play! You should ALWAYS be focused on keeping up with the group in front of you and encouraging everyone else in your group to keep up the pace. Regardless of whether or not you or your group receive a penalty for slow play, the Board will be taking note of perpetually slow players and moving them to later groups in tournaments. We want our tournaments to be fun and free of penalties, it's up to you all to ensure that doesn't happen!

Oct 18 2023

FAREWELL TO THE 2023 SEASON!

A message from our President:

Another successful year for the Kennedy Men's Club has come to an end. 2023 brought some great challenges to all of us, with the weather delays, and postponed tournaments. We also suffered the loss of three members, James Eck, George Connolly and Mike Fisher. Losing one is hard enough but to lose three in the same year was extremely difficult! At the Fall Banquet we took a moment of silence to reflect on their time with us and ended with a toast to all of them. If you have a minute, please take a moment to reflect on them and to realize just how fragile life can be and be thankful for each day we have going forward.

We also announced that Mike Boling and Gary Heeney have decided to step down as our Tournament Co-Chairmen. Everyone in attendance at the banquet gave Mike and Gary a rousing, and well-deserved, standing ovation! I personally wish to thank them for their devotion to our club during their tenure. They did a ton of work behind the scenes and made this club what it is today! If you run into either of them, please take a moment to thank them for their time and buy them a drink if you can. They deserve it! It was a pleasure working with you both and I know everyone wishes you both well and we hope to see you soon!

We are pleased to announce that everyone else on the board has decided to stay in their current positions. We are also pleased to announce that Bob Knutson and Steve Jewell have been elected as our new Tournament Co-Chairs! Both Bob and Steve have been in the club for many years and we look forward to that experience and what they will bring to our club!

I also want to thank all of the board for their hard work this year, as noted it was a trying year, and I appreciate all of their help in keeping this ship afloat!

Finally, a shout out to Matt Zoller for stepping in last minute to run the CGA Interclub Match play. We made it to the quarter finals this year. Unfortunately, we came up just short in our match against a pesky team from Arrowhead. But we look forward to getting them next year!!

On behalf of the entire Kennedy Men's Club Board, we wish each of you a great off-season. Enjoy the rest of this weather and we hope to be open for business in January for the 2024 season.

Fairways and greens,

Trent Wood | KMC President

Aug 15 2023

MICHAEL GORDON FISHER 1983-2023

It's with heavy hearts that we must inform you of an untimely passing of another Kennedy Men's Club brother. We were shocked to learn recently that Mike Fisher, a member from 2018-2022, sadly passed away at the age of 39. We are heartbroken by the news and our thoughts are with his family at this time. Mike was a lover of golf and we know he enjoyed playing in the Kennedy Men's Club. We wanted to share a link to a lovely obituary posted here on Horan & McConaty's website.

May 22 2023

PLEASE RESPECT OUR HOME COURSE

For those who were able to play this past weekend in our two events honoring our late friends James and George, we hope you had a great time! We were treated with some great weather, and a golf course that's in the best shape we've seen in years. While the recent rain has helped with course conditions, what you may not know is that there's renewed effort by golf course staff to improve conditions. This is great news, and we're hopeful this passion continues! However, not all maintenance is the responsibility of golf course staff, it's YOUR responsibility to be a steward of our home course as well. So we kindly ask you to respect the golf course in the following ways:

Golf carts SHOULD NEVER be taken off cart paths where cart paths exist. This means:

NO driving on grass near TEE BOXES.
NO driving on grass near GREENS.
Remember, these areas get the most traffic on the golf course, and riding carts DAMAGE GRASS!
The only exception are for those with handicap placards issued by the pro shop.

Players must pair up in golf carts.

NO MORE than 2 riding carts per foursome. (The only exception are first and last groups that carry tournament signage.)

We all must repair course damage created by playing the game. This means:

FILL OR REPLACE your divots.
FIX your ball marks.
RAKE sand traps after hitting your shot.
Be a GREAT steward of the course by fixing one additional divot, or ball mark, or un-raked area of a sand trap after fixing your own damage.

Gentlemen, do not treat the above as optional. Respecting the course is mandatory! For those who don't comply with the above, remember that Kennedy Golf Course staff reserves the right to remove a cart, or player during any event! The KMC Board can also take disciplinary action (including removal from the club) against a player who woefully ignores the above. By following these guidelines you not only show respect to the course, you show it to your playing partners, the golf course staff, and everyone else who plays the course.

Along those lines, pace of play is also an important part of respecting your fellow golfers. We are very proud to say that NO groups were penalized for slow play this past weekend! That's great, and we need to continue that effort. Please keep it up!

It's important to remember, we do not have the right to play Kennedy, or any of the other courses we play throughout the year, and no member should ever expect "special privileges" because he is a member of the Kennedy Men's Club. It's up to ALL OF US to set an example of how to respect and maintain the golf course we play. Kennedy is our home, let's show the course respect.

To those of you who already adhere to the above, THANK YOU!

Mar 30 2023

New local rule: Line-of-play relief around putting greens

The Men's Club Board has voted to implement a new rule intended to allow relief to players who wish to putt from just off the green, but have a sprinkler head interfering with their line-of-play. It may be used for other immovable obstructions following these guidelines:

Relief from interference by an immovable obstruction may be taken under Rule 16.1

The player also has these extra options to take relief when such immovable obstructions are close to the putting green and on the line of play:
On the line of play, and is:
Within two club-lengths of the putting green, and
Within two club-lengths of the ball.

Exception – No Relief If Line of Play Clearly Unreasonable. There is no relief under this Local Rule if the player chooses a line of play that is clearly unreasonable.

(This rule is also detailed on the Local Rules page.)

Apr 15 2022

RELIEF FROM GOOSE DAMAGE ON KENNEDY GREENS

Due to some of the damage caused by geese on the greens, the Board has ruled that you can take free relief from the holes the birds have created on Kennedy greens. If you are on the putting surface, and either IN a "goose hole" (usually filled with sand), or a "goose hole" is in the path of your putt, you may take the nearest point of relief, no closer to the hole, in order to avoid putting through that damage on our greens.